


Hades Facepaint and Hot Guys

by orphan_account



Series: The Ballad of Solangelo [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Funfair, M/M, Nico has a Niece, She's super cute, Uncle Nico, artist Will, childhood crushes, solangelo, solangelo obsessed, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 19:38:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3459389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico hates the fair. Until his niece wants her face painted. Then he meets Will and he doesn't hate the fair so much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hades Facepaint and Hot Guys

Nico hated the fair. It was loud and tiring and full of people. The food was ridiculously expensive and the games rigged. So when Nadia asked for her face to be painted as Hades the and artist turned to look at Nico, his eyebrows raised, Nico was ready to burst. Instead he laughed, his face turning slightly pink.

 

“Are you sure?” the artist asked Nadia and she nodded earnestly making her brown curls fly around her head. Nico clenched his fists awaiting the indignant remarks about appropriate things for little girls, but they didn’t come. Instead the guy just grinned.

 

“Excellent! That’s the most exciting face I will ever do.” Nico was a little shocked. Pleased, but shocked. Normally people told him that his niece’s obsession with Hades, and death on a whole, was upsetting and inappropriate, but the artist didn’t seem to mind. In fact he seemed to think it was pretty cool. Nadia squirmed in her seat her eyes wide with excitement as the artist messed about with brushes and paints. Nadia looked up at him with her golden eyes and She looked particularly like her mother.

 

Hazel and Frank had gone on a trip to New Rome to see old friends. They _had_ invited Nico to go with them, but Nico had been recently and someone needed to look after Nadia. So Nico stayed back and got to spend the long weekend with hiss sister’s daughter. Nadia was a sweet kid, with an awesome sense of humour and she loved to play Mythomagic with Nico. He suspected that her obsession with Hades had risen from playing the game with her uncle. But Hazel and Frank didn’t mind and nor did Nico, so they left it.

 

“I’m Will by the way.” The artist’s words drew Nico from his thoughts. He was mixing some colours together and Nadia politely stuck her hand out. Nico watched the corners of Will’s mouth turn up as he shook the little hand that was offered.

 

“I am Nadia and I am four!” She cried holding up her fingers to show him. Will actually laughed. It was a sunny warm sound and Nico was struck for a moment. His blonde curls shone in the setting sun and his freckles peeked out, like stars in the night sky. It was unfairly adorable. Will dipped his sponge into a pot of white paint and began dabbing it on Nadia’s face. Nico looked over the fair as silence took over.

 

The setting sun was casting a warm orange glow over the various tents and warming his face. A cool breeze blew through the funfair. He could see stallholders and ride owners putting things into boxes and locking stands, ready to be packed into the truck. It was the last day of the fair and Nico had promised Nadia he’d take her. She’d desperately wanted her face painted, but after having two sticks of fairy floss, a bucket of popcorn and a cone of chips, and riding every single ride at least twice, the fair was closing. They arrived at the face painting just as Will was packing up. Nico had sighed and turned around before the little girl could get too upset, but he was stopped by a voice. Will told them he had time for one more kid if they didn’t mind being here a little later. Relieved, Nico had smiled gratefully and directed Nadia to the comfy looking armchair.

 

He looked longingly at the armchair, his legs aching. He’d been on his feet with Nadia all-day and desperately to sit down for a bit.  Curse his old age! He thought of Bianca reminding him he was only twenty-one and he nearly snorted. As if reading his mind Will looked up from his dabbing and spoke to Nico, “Pull a seat over if you like- this might take a while.”

 

Nico refrained from sighing in relief as he sunk into the surprisingly comfortable wooden chair Will had gestured to. The blonde artist was still dabbing the white onto Nadia’s face, his eyes concentrated on her forehead. Nico noticed just how attractive Will was. His jaw was strong, his blonde hair unnecessarily floppy and his skin was covered in thousands of teeny tiny freckles. Nico had always liked freckles. He felt his face heat.

 

“So,” Will said after another bout of silence, “Hades, eh?” Nadia nodded minutely so she wouldn’t disturb his painting. Will grinned again and Nico though for someone who’d spent his entire day touching snotty little kid’s faces, he was incredibly chipper. It wasn’t fair.

 

“Uncle Nico told me all about the gods and goddesses! His favourite is Hades too.” She said matter-of-factly and Will turned his blue eyes on Nico. They seemed to be amused and Nico couldn’t help but smile back. He wracked his brain for something to say, but by the time he was done Will had turned back to Nadia and begun discussing Greek Legends.

 

“My favourite was always Apollo.” He speculated and Nadia nodded.

 

“He’s pretty cool. I like yellow. And green. And pink, and purple and blue and orange and red.” Will laughed at that and Nadia giggled.

 

“I like yellow too, it’s my favourite colour.” Nico watched from his place on the wooden chair, hiding his smile. Not only was Will incredibly a handsome artist (with the cutest freckles in the universe) he was also excellent with children. That really shouldn’t have made Nico’s knees as wobbly as it did. Nico was glad he was firmly planted in his seat.

 

Nadia chatted away happily to Will about Minotaurs and demigods and Nico listened to their conversation gladly. It was nice to have a break from explaining everything to the ever-curious Nadia . Will would occasionally glance over at Nico and grin, or mouth something not appropriate for small children’s ears as Nadia told her version of the Greek Myths.

 

Will’s fingers held the side of Nadia’s face gently and Nico imagined Will’s fingers on his own face, then Will leaning in and covering Nico’s moth with his own. He felt a blush working a way up his neck. He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. He rarely had inappropriate thoughts about anyone, let alone strangers, no matter how hot they were. The last person his thoughts had wandered to was Percy and that hadn’t ended exceptionally well. Okay that wasn’t true he was close friends with Percy and Annabeth now, but at the time Percy’s lack of romantic feelings fro him had been painful. Admittedly that was in high-school. You’re only young, high-school wasn’t that long ago, his father’s voice reminded him. Nico politely told him to shut up.

 

In that memory his father had been talking to Hazel though. Hazel and Frank had been going out for a solid three years in school and two years after and had decided to tie the knot. Their father wasn’t very happy about that. Nico had stood up for his step-sister and his boyfriend and eventually their dad had come around and turned into the proudest father and grandfather, probably ever. He showed strangers on the bus photographs of Nadia when she was a baby and told his work friends the story of Frank and Hazel so often they all knew it too. Nico smiled at the thought of his dad talking to strangers on the train.

 

“Why are you smiling Uncle Nico?” Nadia’s voice broke him out of his memories. Nadia and Will were both looking at him. Nico shook his head.

 

“Just thinking about your Mum and Dad and Grandpa.” Nadia’s face lit up and Nico wished he’d never said anything. He knew what was coming.

 

“PLEASE tell the story Uncle Nico! Please!” Her golden eyes grew wide and Nico cursed silently. Goddamn his sister and her powerful genes.

 

“No Will doesn’t need to here that story, sweetie.” Nico said quietly and Nadia turned her eyes on the artist. Nico could actually see the Will’s will (heh) evaporating.

 

“What’s the story?” Will asked and Nico wrinkled his nose.

 

“It’s just the story of how her parents met.” He said with a sigh. Will’s eyes grew big and he wiggled in his seat.

 

“Oh please do, Uncle Nico, I’m a hopeless romantic.” Nico glared daggers at Will over his niece’s head (desperately trying to ignore what the words hopeless romantic di to his stomach)  then smiled at Nadia.

 

“Well it all began…” The story was not a short one and by the time it was over, with clapping from Will and Nadia, the face-paint was almost finished. Will asked Nadia to sit very still while he finished it off. Nico was happy to sit and watch him create a masterpiece on Nadia’s face, but Will wasn’t having any of that.

 

“So Uncle Nico, how come you have your sisters kid?” Nico opened his mouth to answer when Nadia butted in.

 

“Mum and dad have gone to Rome!” She cried and Will looked shocked. Nico shook his head.

 

“No sweetie they’ve gone to New Rome, to stay with Uncle Percy and Aunty Annabeth.” Nico corrected and Will calmed down a bit.  Nadia nodded.

 

“And Uncle Leo and Aunty Calypso, and Uncle Jason and Aunty Piper and and and.” Will cut her off by asking her to sit still. Nadia froze where she was a small apology squeaking out of her mouth. Will dipped a thin paintbrush in black paint and began swirling it in seemingly random patterns.

 

“They wouldn’t happen to be Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase would they? And Leo Valdez and Calypso Titan? And Jason and Piper Grace?” Nico nodded slowly, frowning.

 

“Yes, how did you know that?” Will shook his head, his mouth open in amazement.

 

“I go to Summer Camp with them! You wouldn’t be Nico di Angelo then would you?” Nico choked on the air in his lungs.

 

“Uh, yeah?” Will threw his head back and laughed, taking the paintbrush away from Nadia’s face because he was trembling so much.

 

“I used to have the biggest crush on you! Oh man we only talked once or twice but I swear I was in love with you! You stopped coming to Camp Half-Blood before I could profess my love to you.” He said it so seriously Nico wasn’t sure if he was joking. His face flushed while he sifted through his mind trying to remember Will. An image of a blonde boy, with the same smattering of freckles as the man before him, putting a plaster on a little girl, whilst happily chatting to Nico, filled his mind. Nico’s jaw dropped. Will Solace! As in had-a-massive-crush-on-him-for-three-years Will Solace!

 

“Will Solace! Oh my god! I haven’t seen you for years!” They were about to launch into an incredible catch up when little Nadia cleared her throat.

 

“Uncle Nico!” She cried folding her tanned arms, “Mr Will told you he loved you! You have to say it back!” Will held his hands up, cheeks slightly pink and tried to assure Nico it was okay. Nico shushed him.

 

“It’s okay. I kinda had a mega crush on you too.” Will stopped talking and looked at Nico. Nico’s face was a tomato. He nodded and Will’s grin nearly blinded him.

 

“No freakin way. Well then Nico, how would you like to catch dinner sometime and catch up properly?” Nadia squealed from in-between them!

 

“Say yes Uncle Nico!” She was bouncing up and down in her seat, so full of happiness it was nearly pouring out of her eyeballs.

 

“I would like that.” Nadia danced in her seat and Nico sent Will a shy smile. Will blinded him again.

 

“Are you going to paint Uncle Nico’s face on your date Mr Will?” Will laughed again as he rinsed his brushes and held up a mirror for Nadia to see her face.

 

“If he wants me too.” Will said winking at Nico, but it was drowned out by Nadia’s squeal.

 

“I love it! THANK YOU MR WILL!” Nico finally got the chance to see Nadia’s face. He actually felt himself properly smile, something he hadn’t done in a while. Because Nadia’s face was a beautiful sugar skull and he had a date with Will Solace. Maybe the fair isn't so bad after all...

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I wrote this one in like two hours because I was bored and felt guilty. It's also really late at night, but I don't care. School isn't ~that~ important. 
> 
> Not edited. Like, not even a little bit edited. None. 
> 
> Huge thanks to anyone who's read Hair Halos and Cute Sleepwalkers- it means a lot. 
> 
> Obviously still obsessed with these dorks. 
> 
> Enjoy :)


End file.
